1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of BFE. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
BFE takes place in BFE. It isn’t explicitly told, but it may be somewhere in Arizona in the late 1990’s. The play centers on the experiences of three central characters, Panny, her uncle, Lefty, and her mother, Isabel after Panny’s fourteenth birthday.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion is when Panny accidentally calls Hugo instead of Nancy. This is what leads Panny to lie about her age, and, after much coericing from Hugo, meet up with Hugo. This leads to all the major breakdown of action that happens to the main character, Panny, the rest of the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
This is the day that Panny gets abducted.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
-Does Panny meet up with Hugo? -This is a question that is raised throughout the play as Hugo’s and Panny's relationship develops.
-Will Panny get plastic surgery? -This is brought up early as her mom’s birthday present to her. This play is a lot of the time about beauty standards for Panny, and this is one of the main questions that arises.
-Will either of her parent figures find love? -They are always together in their “them vs. the world” attitude, but they are both searching for someone or something else in this play.
5. Use Panny, Isabelle, or Lefty to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for one of the three designated characters..
Panny is constantly struggling with the beauty standards that she feels she is not meeting. This is both a me vs. myself and a me vs. society. She struggles inward to overcome these standards, and she never really does. However, the only reason she feels trapped by these standards is because of the world she was brought up in. In this never ending world of magazines and television and constant exposure, we are subject to certain unrealistic standards, and those affected Panny’s self esteem. She is faced with confronting this all throughout the play from the offer for plastic surgery to her letters with Hae-yoon to even the wig at the end.
She also has a me vs. myself conflict with the person she is portraying to Hugo. This is not her, and she is struggling with it the whole time. When she puts on the makeup, she is almost fighting her other self. This goes with the last point, but it too bold by itself to not be classified as another conflict.
There is also the obvious me vs. another person at the end of the play. She literally is abducted by a man and tries to escape. She makes it out safe, but she does not really escape. She is more tossed aside, once again reinforcing the unrealistic beauty standards.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in BFE and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play?
The most theatrical moment of the play is when Panny is interrupted by Hae-yoon in the middle of her happy abduction narrative, getting her to tell the truth. Their back and forth is not only special and unique as a scene because of the importance it brings to getting the truth at the end of the story, but because of the shift in narrator. The whole play Hae-yoon is almost a reverse of Panny, and to see Panny’s reverse bring out the real truth instead of what Panny is saying, is a special thing in the writing.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in BFE. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
The makeup for Hugo -This represents the person she has been trying to be the whole time. She was always different for Hugo, not herself. She was this older person that didn’t want Hugo to know the real her, and the makeup was her way of trying to convey that.
UGLY written on Patty -This is what the whole play is almost about. This is the amalgamation of all the feeling that Panny had been building up the whole play, and now its on her forever.
The Blonde Wig -The wig Panny is forced to put on represents of all the things that make her feel inadequate about herself, and now they have caught up to her, but even the wig is not enough for the killer, adding to her dismay of feelings.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE.
-Beauty Standards -Race Identity -The struggle to be accepted and find love
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with BFE? Is family redefined in BFE and if so, in what ways?
Family is everything and nothing in this play. Family is important to them because the main characters are all that they have, but their relationships are weird. Panny and her mom don’t really get along, and her mom is not even much of a mother. She more just serves as a catalyst for Panny’s beauty issues, and Panny’s uncle is close to her, but she is not his real child. This disconnect is made abundantly clear when he tells his date that he wants a child that is actually his. Despite this disconnect, it is just them alone at the table together at the end of the play. They are all any of them have.
“When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
BFE takes place in BFE. It isn’t explicitly told, but it may be somewhere in Arizona in the late 1990’s. The play centers on the experiences of three central characters, Panny, her uncle, Lefty, and her mother, Isabel after Panny’s fourteenth birthday.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion is when Panny accidentally calls Hugo instead of Nancy. This is what leads Panny to lie about her age, and, after much coericing from Hugo, meet up with Hugo. This leads to all the major breakdown of action that happens to the main character, Panny, the rest of the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
This is the day that Panny gets abducted.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
-Does Panny meet up with Hugo?
-This is a question that is raised throughout the play as Hugo’s and Panny's relationship develops.
-Will Panny get plastic surgery?
-This is brought up early as her mom’s birthday present to her. This play is a lot of the time about beauty standards for Panny, and this is one of the main questions that arises.
-Will either of her parent figures find love?
-They are always together in their “them vs. the world” attitude, but they are both searching for someone or something else in this play.
5. Use Panny, Isabelle, or Lefty to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for one of the three designated characters..
Panny is constantly struggling with the beauty standards that she feels she is not meeting. This is both a me vs. myself and a me vs. society. She struggles inward to overcome these standards, and she never really does. However, the only reason she feels trapped by these standards is because of the world she was brought up in. In this never ending world of magazines and television and constant exposure, we are subject to certain unrealistic standards, and those affected Panny’s self esteem. She is faced with confronting this all throughout the play from the offer for plastic surgery to her letters with Hae-yoon to even the wig at the end.
She also has a me vs. myself conflict with the person she is portraying to Hugo. This is not her, and she is struggling with it the whole time. When she puts on the makeup, she is almost fighting her other self. This goes with the last point, but it too bold by itself to not be classified as another conflict.
There is also the obvious me vs. another person at the end of the play. She literally is abducted by a man and tries to escape. She makes it out safe, but she does not really escape. She is more tossed aside, once again reinforcing the unrealistic beauty standards.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in BFE and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play?
The most theatrical moment of the play is when Panny is interrupted by Hae-yoon in the middle of her happy abduction narrative, getting her to tell the truth. Their back and forth is not only special and unique as a scene because of the importance it brings to getting the truth at the end of the story, but because of the shift in narrator. The whole play Hae-yoon is almost a reverse of Panny, and to see Panny’s reverse bring out the real truth instead of what Panny is saying, is a special thing in the writing.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in BFE. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
The makeup for Hugo
-This represents the person she has been trying to be the whole time. She was always different for Hugo, not herself. She was this older person that didn’t want Hugo to know the real her, and the makeup was her way of trying to convey that.
UGLY written on Patty
-This is what the whole play is almost about. This is the amalgamation of all the feeling that Panny had been building up the whole play, and now its on her forever.
The Blonde Wig
-The wig Panny is forced to put on represents of all the things that make her feel inadequate about herself, and now they have caught up to her, but even the wig is not enough for the killer, adding to her dismay of feelings.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE.
-Beauty Standards
-Race Identity
-The struggle to be accepted and find love
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with BFE? Is family redefined in BFE and if so, in what ways?
Family is everything and nothing in this play. Family is important to them because the main characters are all that they have, but their relationships are weird. Panny and her mom don’t really get along, and her mom is not even much of a mother. She more just serves as a catalyst for Panny’s beauty issues, and Panny’s uncle is close to her, but she is not his real child. This disconnect is made abundantly clear when he tells his date that he wants a child that is actually his. Despite this disconnect, it is just them alone at the table together at the end of the play. They are all any of them have.